I have something brewing on my back burner — is it too early for a Hallowe’en story to already be tugging at my ankle with its bony fingers? Of course it is… so I put it on low heat, added some cinnamon and some of those molasses candies and it should be just right come October. Of course, it may be ready early, in which case I’ll just have to adopt Ministry’s philosophy that Every Day Is Hallowe’en.

It’s a terrifying little tale about a creepy shut in, called The Man Who Loved Hallowe’en.

Just keep that in the back of your mind.

Some interesting news — I have a publisher who may be interested in VISCERA as a whole — stay tuned for news on that front.

But for now, prepare yourself for next week’s installments of CHUK — I’m giving you three parts next week – Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, I take you back with Jean-Baptiste to the summer of ’77, and the horror that befell Bayou Bonhomme that year. You get to meet Leroy’s father, and discover his fate. We learn how the lives of Jean-Baptiste, Oscar, Leroy and the late Amie LeBeau are intertwined. You won’t want to miss it.

So shave your head and grab your safety pins and leather, crank up the Clash, the Sex Pistols, Talking Heads, Patti Smith, and get ready to get your rage on.

Or, conversely, break out Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours or your old Bee Gees and Donna Summer, put on your polyester jumpsuit and those platform shoes and get ready to freak out (le freak, c’est chic) disco style.

If you have no idea what CHUK is, or if you’re late to the party, CHUK is a serialized novel (that went nameless for SO LONG) about a town on the Louisiana bayou that is home to an ancient swamp monster — however, most in Bayou Bonhomme think it’s only a legend, used to sell t-shirts and bumper stickers — but there are those in town who know for a fact that the thing exists, and worship her/him/it as a god. There are monsters in Bayou Bonhomme, and some of them walk on two legs. Southern Gothic, Lovecraftian horror with a soupcon of dark humour, CHUK is a non-stop cliffhanger, and if you want to start at the beginning, you can go HERE, or check out the TABLE OF CONTENTS to catch up on what you might have missed.

Check out what people are saying about CHUK:

“Gawd! This is freakishly good!”

“Jessica B. Bell’s story about the C’thuN’chuk is creepy and amazing. If you like strange, creepy fiction, you’ll love this. Frankly, I’m more of a mystery and sci-fi geek and I STILL love this.”

“I’m going to… vote against writing the next one in public. This is too good to give away for free in public. It really is.”

“You setup and deliver such rich characters and balance beautifully the scale between the comic and the dramatic.”

“[You draw] the mystery out piece by piece without giving all the details and it’s KILLING me. In the best possible way.”

“You’ve got a great way of having multiple bombshells in one post without any of them losing impact. This story is really picking up its pace and yet still always leaves us balancing on the edge of the biggest revelation of all. Beautifully done!”

“Not what I expected at all. I like that. And here’s the thing – I believe in these characters. Not a single one is overdrawn, unique and colorful as they are.”

3 responses to “Disco vs Punk – the Summer of ’77”

Punk, fer sure, though I was doing Pete Seeger and Arlo Guthrie that summer. (Always swimming against the current…) I did go to London shortly after Elvis died and became initiated in the ways of punk. Now, where did I put my plaid bondage pants?